Scientists have confirmed the presence of glaciers at the poles of the moon

In the darkest and coldest parts of the polar regions of the moon, a team of scientists finally found definitive evidence of the existence of water ice on the surface of the moon. These ice deposits gradually increase over the years and can be very ancient. At the south pole, most of the ice is concentrated in lunar craters, while the ice of the north pole has a wider spread.

A team of scientists led by Shuai Lee from the University of Hawaii and Brown University, and Richard Elfich from NASA Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California used data from the NASA Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) to determine three specific signatures that definitively prove the existence of glaciers on a surface.

The M3, installed on board the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft launched in 2008 by the Indian Space Research Organization, was inherently a unique device that could confirm the presence of solid ice on the Moon.The device collected data that not only indicated the reflective properties that are inherent in glaciers, but were able to directly measure the distinctive feature of the absorption of molecules by the infrared light, which made it possible to determine the state of water: solid, liquid or vapor.

Scientists have found that most of the glaciers are in the shadow of craters near the poles, where the highest temperatures never reach above minus 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Due to the very small tilt of the axis of rotation of the moon, sunlight never reaches these regions.

Previous observations only indirectly confirmed possible signs of surface ice at the lunar south pole, but this could also be explained by other phenomena, such as the unusually high reflecting properties of the lunar soil.

If on the surface of the moon there is a sufficient number of glaciers with a thickness of only a few millimeters, then this water can already be used as a resource for future expeditions and will allow not only to explore the moon, but also to be there for a long time.

Finding out as much information as possible about these glaciers and howhow they formed there and interact with the lunar environment is a key area of ​​research for future NASA lunar missions.

Dmitry Mushinsky

Scientists have confirmed the presence of glaciers at the poles of the moon

This is a copy of the article located at http://masterokblog.ru/?p=9591.